Bartamaha (Nairobi):- Somali pirates have hijacked a Liberian-flagged container ship east of Tanzania with 23 crew members onboard, European Union (EU) anti-piracy force said late Friday, Xinhua informed.

EU Naval Force spokesman Paddy O’Kennedy said the MV Panama was seized by two armed skiffs with a total of five pirates on board on Friday afternoon.

“A Rocket Propelled Grenade was used during the attack which occurred approximately 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian/ Mozambique border,” O’Kennedy said in a statement. “This extreme southerly attack in the Somali Basin is a further example of the constantly expanding area of pirate activity,” he said.
The vessel is operated by a U.S.-based company, with a crew of 23 all from Myanmar.

It was en route from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Beira, Mozambique when the attack occurred. “There is no news of the condition of the crew and EUNAVFOR are monitoring the situation,” O’Kennedy said.

The Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Somalia and Yemen, is the main sea route between Europe and Asia. Tankers carrying Middle East oil through the Suez Canal must pass first through the Gulf of Aden.

About 4 percent of the world’s daily oil supply is shipped through the gulf. The attacks are being carried out by increasingly well-coordinated Somali gangs armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, maritime officials said.

The Horn of Africa nation has been without a functioning government since 1991, and remains one of the world’s most violent and lawless countries.

Combined Task Force 150, a naval alliance based in the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti, is patrolling an area within the Gulf of Aden to help protect ships from pirates.

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Source:- focus-Press Tv

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